Chapter 12 - The Husband I Buried

Now

I stayed late at work that night, contemplating defense strategies, until my brain decided enough was enough and hit me with a headache.

As I closed my laptop, I realized I didn’t want to go home. It wasn’t that I minded being alone. It was that I was going home to a life without him, a life we’d planned together but that I was now trying to figure out on my own.

A call from Jess saved my evening.

‘Hey,’ she said. ‘Just thought you might be ready to grab some food?’

I silently thanked her for knowing me well enough to know exactly when I needed to take a break. ‘Tell me where, and I’ll be there.’

‘How about Ola? It’s open late.’

‘Perfect!’

*

Twenty minutes later, I was searching the tables for a tell-tale head of blonde hair, thinking about all the times Jess had pulled me through.

Especially after Luis died. She stood with me at the cemetery as I watched his coffin disappear beneath the damp earth, letting me grip her hand.

She was my rock.

Jess had driven me home from the cemetery. I would have just stood by his grave all night otherwise. I had told myself all I needed was closure. To say goodbye and let go so I could finally start to heal. But I didn’t feel any better after the funeral. Closure is a lie we tell ourselves to make grief sound manageable. There’s no closure to what we had shared together, or what we’d lost.

There was only surviving it.

The truth was, my life stopped that day. Something inside me had been buried along with Luis. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get it back.

‘Do you want me to stay?’ Jessica had asked, sitting in my driveway with me while I cried.

‘No. I can manage. Thank you for everything,’ I had said, hugging her.

She had been there for me ever since. Just like during the break-in.

Jess saw me first at Ola, waving her hands dramatically to get my attention. I smiled. I used to smile all the time.

Now, it was a rare occurrence.

I had hoped no one would notice I wasn’t the same Mackenzie Morgan anymore. The one who had made partner at Jackson and Morgan and had an almost perfect win record. That I didn’t care about those things like I used to.

Life had lost a little of its flavor.

‘I ordered us drinks,’ Jess said, pushing a colorful cocktail toward me.

She was trying to bring me back to life, one colorful cocktail at a time.

She waited for me to take a few sips before speaking. ‘OK, what’s up?’ she asked. ‘Is this about the break-in?’

‘The police aren’t taking it seriously,’ I said. ‘They think the wood was old, and that maybe I didn’t notice the broken latch.’

‘Because you’re a woman who lives alone, so obviously you must be scared of every shadow.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘I mean, we have pest control on speed dial, right?’ She rolled her eyes again, more dramatically, trying to cheer me up.

‘Right,’ I agreed absently.

‘It’s not that though, is it? Come on. What’s really bothering you?’

‘It’s just . . .’ I paused, not knowing how much I should say. Rebecca was a client, but I couldn’t shake the feeling there was something she wasn’t telling me.

Finally, I caved and told Jess what I could without using names, and without crossing any ethical boundaries. ‘It’s just, a woman who isn’t under arrest wants me to prepare a case I might never use.’

‘That seems odd. Why?’

‘She thinks it’s only a matter of time before they arrest her.’ I paused, looking into the vibrant cocktail like it’s a crystal ball. ‘But it’s more than tha—’

Suddenly, it hit me. There was a reason something had been bugging me. ‘It’s as if she thinks not having done it could be worse for her.’

‘Well, did she seem paranoid? Maybe she doesn’t trust authority figures.’

‘No. She was articulate. Well spoken. She didn’t seem particularly hostile towards the police who interviewed her.’

‘Maybe she’s living a secret life as a parking inspector and she doesn’t want anyone to know,’ joked Jess.

That got a smile.

But Jess was on to something. The way Rebecca had been acting, maybe she was involved in something she didn’t want the police to know about. She’d put off calling the fire department while her husband was inside their burning home.

Or maybe Brad was mixed up in something? But why would she be worried? Was hiring me her way to make sure everything was done right?

‘I need to pee,’ said Jess, sliding out of her seat.

While Jess was in the restroom, I sent Carl some instructions to investigate who was on the case and whether they had any ties to Rebecca, Brad, or anyone else who might’ve been close to either of them, with a note to leave it until the morning.

‘More drinks?’ Jess asked when she came back.

‘Why not.’

Two cocktails later, I was feeling a little lighter.

You don’t have to carry it all with you.

I didn’t usually drink this much on a weekday, but it felt good, being out and eating tacos with Jess, like we used to before life got crazy.

‘This has been nice,’ I said. ‘Thank you.’

‘It has,’ she agreed, just as my phone pinged.

‘Ugh. This might be work. I need to get it,’ I said apologetically, already pulling my phone from my bag. ‘It’s probably Elizabeth. I feel like she’s been keeping tabs on me. Or it could be Carl.’

‘Let it wait,’ said Jess, holding up her glass in a lone ‘cheers’, taking a gulp before I’d returned it.

I was about to explain when she stopped me. ‘No, I know how it is. Believe me.’

Or perhaps it was Officer Murphy, updating me on the break-in, though I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one.

It wasn’t either of them. It was a number I didn’t recognize. Probably spam. My finger hovered over ‘delete’ until I saw the preview.

Hi Mackenzie, this is Carmen from Beautiful Beagles. We had a cancellation. One little girl is still looking for her forever home.

My pulse thrummed. I had almost forgotten that Luis and I had put our names down for a dog. We’d talked about it for months. We’d even discussed names and couldn’t decide on anything we both agreed on. He’d joked that we needed something small enough to cuddle but smart enough to outwit both of us. My first instinct was to call him, to tell him we’d finally found our beagle. My hand even moved before my brain caught up. I still wasn’t used to him not being there, and whenever something exciting happened, he was the first person I thought of.

But he wasn’t there to share it with, and a fresh wave of loss hit me.

I opened the message and saw a beagle pup looking up at the camera with her wide puppy eyes, her head tilted as if she were waiting for the answer to a question she’d just asked.

I swiped through three more photos, each one worse for my resolve.

I flipped the phone around and showed Jess, who visibly melted when she saw her.

‘She’s perfect,’ I said.

My thumbs tapped out a reply.

She’s beautiful. I’m definitely interested. Any health issues? Why did they back out?

The reply came fast.

They changed their minds. The thing is, I can’t hold her long. I’d need to know by 5pm tomorrow if you want to come see her. I can send through her vet work. You can come by any time before 8. 143 Thomson Street.

She gave the name of the town and a phone number too.

‘Are you really going to do it?’ asked Jess.

‘What?’

‘Get a puppy.’

I cracked a piece of taco shell and chewed thoughtfully. ‘Maybe. There’s no harm in going out there, right?’

‘No. I think you should. Pets are great company. I’d be lost without Snowball.’

Now all I had to do was figure out a way to go see her, but it wouldn’t be tonight. I was exhausted, and this case was just getting started.